Critical minerals are being extracted in areas under the control of guerrilla groups, involving systematic human rights abuses and accelerating environmental destruction in one of Earth’s most vital ecosystems. Our Amazon Underworld article for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

For almost a year, we've been chasing the critical minerals (coltan, tin, rare earths, and more) of the Amazon and the dark interests behind their trade. Today, we've launched a series of articles and an investigative report, but there's more to come! amazonunderworld.org?policy-paper...

Durante casi un año, hemos estado persiguiendo los minerales críticos (coltán, tierras raras, etc.) de la Amazonía y los oscuros intereses detrás de su comercio. Hoy, con Amazon Underworld, hemos comenzado con una serie de artículos, ¡pero hay más por venir! amazonunderworld.org/es/specials/...

Indigenous peoples, proven to be the Amazon's most effective nature guardians, are increasingly facing mounting pressures from those after the rainforest's riches. We're honoured to have Amazon defender Alessandra Munduruku as our guest writer. amazonunderworld.org/the-crime-th...

About a month ago, Tom Laffay and I visited the Comandos de la Frontera, a group that describes itself as a "21st-century guerrilla organization," controlling the borderlands of Colombia with Peru and Ecuador. This is our Amazon Underworld story 👇🇨🇴🇪🇨🇵🇪 amazonunderworld.org/the-state-of...

Hace aproximadamente un mes, Tom Laffay y yo visitamos a los Comandos de la Frontera, un grupo que se describe como una "organización guerrillera del siglo XXI," controlando las fronteras de Colombia con Perú y Ecuador. Esta es nuestra historia 🇨🇴🇵🇪🇪🇨👇 amazonunderworld.org/es/el-estado...

This week, Bogotá hosts the Amazon Dialogues, where Amazon governments convene to discuss main challenges. With our journalistic partners and @amazonwatch.org, we have publications lined up about the Amazon's most disputed borderlands and why this should be on the political agenda. Stay tuned!

La expansión de la minería ilegal en los estados Bolívar y Amazonas de Venezuela ha provocado una violencia generalizada contra la población local, especialmente contra las comunidades indígenas, así como daños ambientales que amenazan con destruir esta parte de la Amazonía.

Record gold prices have made illegal mining more profitable than ever. In the Venezuelan Amazon, this means not only organized crime is capitalizing, but state authorities like the army are involved as well. Our new @crisisgroup.org briefing 🇻🇪⛏️ www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...

Los precios récord del oro hacen que la minería ilegal sea más rentable que nunca, y en la Amazonía venezolana esto no solo significa que el crimen organizado aprovecha, sino también las autoridades estatales. Nuestro nuevo informe de @crisisgroup.org 🇻🇪⛏️ www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...

The U.S. Secretary of State cares so much for Venezuelans that he helped disappear hundreds of them to a hellhole in El Salvador to face horrifying abuse. www.state.gov/releases/off...

In Venezuela's far east, where the Orinoco River meets the Atlantic Ocean, FARC dissident groups have seized control far from their Colombian origins. This is what we discovered @armandoinfo.bsky.social / Amazon Underworld 🇻🇪🐍 amazonunderworld.org/es/disidente...

1/ Today we kickstart Amazon Underworld, an alliance of investigative journalists and a project very close to my heart. We have an amazing team that worked its socks off to begin providing you with new reporting from the Amazon 👇 🧵 amazonunderworld.org

Nuevo Q& A | #Venezuela insiste en sus reclamos territoriales mientras se agudiza la disputa con #Guyana 🔽 www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...

“Bolsonaro stands accused of crimes including being involved in an attempted coup d’état and an armed criminal association and the violent abolition of the rule of law.”

6 Guyanese soldiers wounded in shootout with suspected Venezuelan gang near disputed border. Attack on GDF supply boat at Cuyuni River comes amid rising tensions over Essequibo region.

The ELN's role in Venezuela goes beyond a strategic rearguard, as they have moved into gold mining districts and border areas, coinciding with Caracas' interests. “We know that there is a tacit alliance on the federal level in Venezuela,” I told @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/w...

The gravity of USAID's shuttering in #Colombia go well beyond gaps in the budget line. Programs have been shut down in a way that could endanger communities and devastate U.S. access and credibility for many years. It also stands to destabilize #Colombia's delicate security🧵

“Trump’s cuts will hit Latin America’s most vulnerable populations, including millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, as grassroots organizations providing essential care, guidance, and food are left without funding,” @bramebus.bsky.social

“Trump’s cuts will hit Latin America’s most vulnerable populations, including millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, as grassroots organizations providing essential care, guidance, and food are left without funding” @bramebus.bsky.social tells @apnews.com 🔽 apnews.com/article/trum...

“Marrugo and his team had been researching the effects of mercury on human health at the start of the millennium when they began noticing that the Guarumo tree was thriving in spots where gold had been processed.” www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

This @enpax.bsky.social environmental peacebuilding webinar had Erika Weinthal @eswein.bsky.social Bram Ebus @bramebus.bsky.social & JoJo Nem Singh sharing insights on mining for green energy to criminal actor impacts in the Amazon to transboundary water coop/conflict www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahZ0...

Super impressive Amazon Underworld multimedia platform by @bramebus.bsky.social & colleagues. Loads of stories & data to map the "criminal ecosystem" of the Amazon. amazonunderworld.org

With @crisisgroup.org, we spoke to officials, refugees, smugglers, and law enforcement in the Darién Gap. Sealing it off would crush human rights, fail to stop migration, and empower crime. Yet the incoming Trump administration is determined to push ahead.

For the Amazon Basin, 2024 has been a brutal year. Nevertheless, there is much that can be done in 2025: “If the political will is there, international backers will step forward to finance new strategies to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest,” I told @apnews.com

También en octubre, @bramebus.bsky.social y @dickinsonbeth.bsky.social se fueron a la #COP16 en Cali y presentaron nuestra investigación sobre el control que grupos armados como el EMC ejercen en la Amazonía colombiana y su impacto en la deforestación. www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-ame...

Deforestation escalated on the tri-border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay as @interpol.int targeted environmental crimes. "It is the drug money that is laundered through these economic activities that finances and accelerates deforestation," I told @apnews.com @crisisgroup.org

Fantastic reporting by @terrencemccoy.bsky.social and Marina Dias on how Brazilian urban crime has infiltrated the Amazon to control gold mining districts and expand their criminal portfolios. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Interessado em traduzir o jornalismo investigativo transfronteiriço sobre tendências criminosas na Amazônia em soluções políticas concretas?🔎 Venha trabalhar conosco! 🐍 forms.gle/AV48X8ddBxsF...

I’m thrilled to share that our project, Amazon Underworld, has been shortlisted for 'Outstanding Investigative Reporting' at the Fetisov Journalism Awards! 🐍🍃🦥 Congratulations to our incredible team La Liga Contra el Silencio, Armando Info, @infoamazonia.org and @pulitzercenter.bsky.social

A standoff between President Luis Arce and former President Evo Morales has plunged Bolivia into turmoil, aggravating economic grievances and fuelling social unrest. 🧵 to explain what’s happening

"Estos crímenes casi siempre son transfronterizos e involucran una compleja estructura logística y jurídica con el objetivo de hacer ‘legal’ la extracción ilegal”, dijo @bramebus.bsky.social a @elpais.com sobre los delitos ambientales y crimen organizado en la Amazonía. elpais.com/america/amaz...

Delitos ambientales: "Estos crímenes raramente ocurren de forma aislada, casi siempre son transfronterizos e involucran a una compleja estructura logística y jurídica con el objetivo de hacer ‘legal’ la extracción ilegal", le dije a @elpaisamerica.bsky.social

"No podemos afirmar que las plantaciones de coca enriquezcan a las comunidades o que sean realmente deseadas por ellas, pero debido a la falta de medios de subsistencia, la gente se ve obligada a participar” dijo @bramebus.bsky.social a @dialogueearthes.bsky.social dialogue.earth/es/bosques/c...

The Crime and Corruption Reporting pack is a work in progress. I've been adding on-the-ground reporters (e.g. @bramebus.bsky.social), OSINT investigators (@oldpete45.bsky.social), & experts (@alexphelan.bsky.social) to bring well-rounded perspectives. Please share / DM with recs. go.bsky.app/49ugeJg

Together with @dickinsonbeth.bsky.social, we explored how conflict fuels environmental destruction, while a peace agenda also offers opportunities for conservation. This weekend, Colombian guerrilla commander 'Calarcá' announced a ban on logging in areas under their control / @crisisgroup.org.

Two cops arrested in Itaituba, Pará, ground zero of Brazil's illegal gold trade, accused of facilitating illegal extraction of the metal from Indigenous lands

Experts say there has been a rising trend of violence for at least a decade, while many longstanding crises continue unabated #conflict #prevention www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Martín von Hildebrand, el nuevo secretario general de la OTCA, sobre enfrentar los retos de seguridad en la Amazonía: “Esa es una necesidad absoluta y tenemos que tener también una colaboración jurídica, porque si no, se nos sale de las manos.” www.elespectador.com/ambiente/ama...

UN OCHA recently announced that 2024 has become the "the deadliest year on record for aid workers..." and we still have a month left 281 humanitarian workers were killed this year. In Gaza alone since Oct 7, 320 humanitarian personnel have been killed. www.ochaopt.org/content/un-r...

In the tri-border area of Brazil, Colombia and Peru 🇧🇷🇨🇴🇵🇪, criminal organisations are expanding and diversifying, while violence and environmental harm escalate. How can we cooperate to protect the environment and Amazonian communities? www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ... @crisisgroup.org

The diversity of risks from climate change expands as glaciers in the Andes melt, exposing rocks to the elements. This triggers chemical reactions that leach toxic metals into water, posing serious health risks to local populations reliant on those streams. #COP29 www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/s...

Panama, a newly elected member of the UNSC for 2025-26, with a scathing assessment of COP29: “I think 1.5C was at the intensive care unit and it feels like that bed just broke and it fell on the floor.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A front page a lot of Brazilians have been waiting a long time to see…

Historical droughts are driving humanitarian crises across the Amazon region. This week, Biden travelled to Brazil, but with an incoming Trump administration, the prospects for nature conservation are likely to decline, I told @cnn.com’s @stepozzebon.bsky.social www.cnn.com/2024/11/17/w...

This week, the first sitting U.S. president travelled to the Amazon rainforest. I spoke to @npr.org about why people in the Amazon should care about Biden’s visit, and why they shouldn't... theworld.org/segments/202... @crisisgroup.org

Are you, like me, just getting started here and wondering who to follow to stay up to date on geopolitics, peacebuilding and conflict/crime dynamics? Some of the amazing projects my colleagues are working on deserve your attention. Check out this @crisisgroup.org starter pack! go.bsky.app/6kvYnWa

Hello! I’ve just joined Blue Sky and will be mostly posting about the world’s largest tropical rainforest—the Amazon—and the challenges it faces from violence and crime 🌳 Check out our recent @crisisgroup.org briefing on deforestation and conflict in Colombia 👇 www.crisisgroup.org/latin-americ...